The préfecture: the end?

You’ve been holding your breath waiting for me to finish my story about the préfecture, haven’t you? If you missed it, I’ve already been once in Vienne and once in Lyon trying to renew my visa. (FYI, I have a job contract specifically for a foreigner like me which gives me the right to live in France for the duration of the contract, so it’s not a legal problem – it’s a bureaucracy problem.)

To cut a long story short, I flew back from Barcelona a few days early specifically to do this whole thing over, because who doesn’t love waiting on the sidewalk for hours while the sun comes up? I brought snacks this time.

Just like last time, the doors opened up around 8:30am and the lined moved forward as we showed our passports and were handed tickets. Some men tried to cut in line. It did not go over well.

Hours later, I finally walked out of there with my récépissé, the little piece of paper that says yes, you can stay in France! Yay!